Arizona Football Talk: Grading the QBs

Welcome! To another edition of the Arizona Wildcats Insiders Podcast featuring your host Troy Hutchison, who will be delivering a daily podcast discussing everything happening surrounding Arizona athletics, giving you an inside look at all the programs on campus.

Hutchison has been covering Arizona for the last seven years, with his coverage spanning all across UA’s campus from football and men’s basketball to Title IX sports. Plus, with so many former Wildcats playing at the next level in their respective sports, there will be moments where he will take a deep dive into the Cats' excelling outside of Tucson.

When Brent Brennan was looking to turn things around on his coaching staff, he hired offensive coordinator Seth Doege to fix the offense and get things back on track after an underwhelming season that saw the year end for the Wildcats with a 4-8 record and an offense that struggled after the 61-point explosion against New Mexico.

The offense struggled with injuries, lack of talent in the wide receiver room (outside of Tetairoa McMillan) and playcalling from former offensive coordinator Dino Babers.

One thing Brennan and his staff set out to do this offseason was add talent to the roster and create battles on the roster to get iron sharpening iron to help improve the program.

Arizona brought in transfer quarterback Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke, who played in 16 games for the Badgers and threw for 2,713 yards with 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

With Fifita and Locke, there is no quarterback controversy at Arizona and they are clearly the top two quarterbacks on the roster.

Not only are the top two spots filled, but Fifita is 100% the starting QB, with Brennan making that clear at the beginning of the offseason ahead of spring ball and training camp.

Last season, Fifita had his ups and downs as he passed for 2,958 yards while completing 61% of his passes, which led to 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Plus, he was sacked 28 times over the course of the 12-game season.

We have seen both quarterbacks get all the first and second-team reps working with their units to get ready for the upcoming season.

Not only did the staff bring in Locke, they went out and flipped three-star recruit Sawyer Anderson from Purdue, giving the team a legitimate 3-deep situation at the position compared to zero depth a season before.

Although Anderson is very young and most likely won’t play, he has been able to grow this camp and has been shadowing the two veterans to learn everything they know about the game.

We have seen Anderson grow in the offensive scheme and get comfortable with the pace of college football. This has allowed him to show off his arm strength and his athleticism against the third-team defensive unit.

From top to bottom the Wildcats’ quarterback room has gotten stronger as the team has ended camp and started to prepare for its game against Hawaii.

Unlike last year, Arizona will have options if anything goes from with Fifita and has the talent for a break glass situation that can keep the team rolling.

Top Two QBs of Camp